Asia Pacific Undersea Cables Power a New Era of Data Growth

Major undersea link lifts bandwidth and resilience across Asia Pacific as operators race to keep pace with demand

21 Nov 2025

A major upgrade to Asia’s digital infrastructure came into service in mid-July, when the Southeast Asia Japan Cable 2 began operating across the region. The new subsea system is seen by industry analysts as an important step in easing rising data traffic across key Asian hubs.

The 10,500km cable connects Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand. It enters service as cloud computing, video streaming and artificial intelligence drive heavy loads on existing routes. The project is backed by a consortium of regional operators, including Chunghwa Telecom, China Mobile, Singtel, KDDI and SK Broadband.

Participants expect the added capacity to improve resilience by giving countries more routing options. Undersea cables, once treated as low-profile infrastructure, are now viewed as strategic assets that influence economic stability and national competitiveness. Multiple landing points can reduce risks from natural disasters or political tension, a growing concern as Asia becomes a central node in global data flows.

The system’s launch is also shaping corporate strategy. Telecom groups are expanding cross-border partnerships, and analysts expect further mergers or joint ventures as operators pursue scale and secure long-term operations. Singtel has called for stronger maintenance capabilities, arguing that rapid network expansion must be matched by improved repair capacity and more specialist crews.

Structural constraints remain. The region continues to face shortages of repair vessels and trained technicians, while new cable plans are advancing more quickly than supply chains can adjust. Despite these limits, industry sentiment is broadly positive, with many viewing this activation as the start of a more intensive period of planning and construction.

The cable’s impact extends beyond the telecom sector. Greater bandwidth is expected to influence business expansion, consumer connectivity and government digital strategies. With data usage still rising at double-digit annual rates, regional operators are already preparing for the next round of large-scale subsea projects.